Hallelujah Moments: Tales of Drug Discovery

by Eugene H. Cordes

Overview

Drug discovery in the pharmaceutical industry has important consequences for the health and wellbeing of people everywhere. However, the general public knows little about the paths through which basic research findings are translated into products that protect or restore human health: the route from the laboratory bench to the bedside. In Hallelujah Moments, Eugene Cordes reveals how some of the most important and influential drugs have been brought into the practice of clinical medicine through the wit and determination of scientists in academia and industry. He shares his firsthand knowledge of the drug-discovery world, having spent a long and distinguished career in both the academic and industrial settings. These tales are "adventure stories," and they trace the route of important drugs like Januvia, Primaxin, Capoten, and Zocor from concept to the clinic. Cordes shows us the dynamic and critical thinking needed to create a drug that meets important health needs. These are human stories of imagination, risk-taking, problem-solving, and perseverance. Written accessibly for a non-scientist audience, Hallelujah Moments provides insights into the fascinating world of drug discovery like never before.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199337149
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	02/28/2014
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 12.40(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Eugene H. Cordes previously served as Vice President of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the Research Laboratories of Merck and Company and as President of Research and Development at Sterling Winthrop Pharmaceuticals Inc. During his career, he received awards for his classroom instruction at both Indiana University and the University of Michigan. He is the author of The Tao of Chemistry and Life (OUP 2009) and several biochemistry textbooks.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments

1. Seduced by Drug Discovery
2. Proscar and Propecia: the Gary and Jerry Show
3. Basic research, snake venoms and ACE inhibitors: Ondetti, Cushman and Patchett
4. HIV protease inhibitors: weapons in the way against HIV/AIDS
5. Statins: protection against heart attacks and strokes - Hallelujah
6. The perils of Primaxin
7. The discovery of taxol: Wall, Horwitz, Holton
8. Avermectins: molecules of life battle parasites
9. Fludalanine: nice try but no cigar
10. Diabetes breakthroughs: Thornberry and Weber
11. Take it off! Take it all off! Drugs for weight reduction
12. The conquest of hepatitis C: telaprevir and beyond

Appendix A: The small molecules of life: some basics of chemistry
Appendix B: The basics of protein structure
Appendix C: Proteins perform multiple functions: enzymes, receptors, ion channels
Appendix D: The basics of drug discovery and development
Appendix E: Structures of key molecules

Editorial Reviews

"Gene Cordes gives us an interesting and uncommonly clear insight into the scientifically complex world of drug discovery, using common vocabulary. This is a great read for all who are interested in the pharmaceutical industry." — Paul S. Anderson, PhD, former President of the American Chemical Society and Senior Vice-President for Chemistry and Physical Sciences at Dupont-Merck Pharmaceuticals

"Every new drug is a miracle. Cordes brings us up close to the stories of the discovery and development of a few of these medical miracles, patiently but briskly providing the basic technical background (...starting from "what is H[2O") before launching into the human stories of medical innovation in a masterful context of understandable and thrilling science. This book is a hallelujah moment." — Joshua Boger, PhD, Founder, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

"Writing in a conversational style aimed at a broad (non-specialist) audience, Cordes explains the hugely complex, sometimes elegant, and mostly messy process of discovering and developing new medicines. Each chapter, or drug biography, is a tribute to the scientists - oftentimes just a single scientist - who refused to give up despite having to overcome manifold emergent problems along the way. In addition to the sense of adventure, this is information that all should know." — David Pompliano PhD, former CEO of BioLeap LLC, and Vice-President, Merck Research Laboratories

"This work, told from an inside master, reveals how drug discovery is changing dramatically and for the better...all while engaging the reader with humor and science, sagacity and insight, personality and precision. Dr. Cordes presents a wonderful picture of how good science is transformed into the creation of life-saving pharmaceuticals. A special book for the interested reader, the student, and the professional all wrapped up in one." — Robert Darnell, MD-PhD, President of the New York Genome Center

From the Publisher